Ramped up violence in kids' MMA tournament alarms coach

TRACY SHERLOCK, Vancouver Sun10.29.2010

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in East Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym are not allowed, says he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground. Pankration gym does not allow hits to the head when a competitor is on the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Young students at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym in east Vancouver train hard in a weekly class. The coach at this gym ays he was concerned when a recent MMA tournament allowed hitting to the head when kids were pinned to the ground.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

VANCOUVER — A veteran mixed martial arts coach says he had to stop several children from being held down and punched in the head at a recent MMA tournament, after new rules were introduced allowing youngsters to engage in “ground and pound.”

Organizers of a tournament last weekend in Burnaby included a new division that allowed children to be hit in the head once they are on the ground, despite existing rules prohibiting that level of violence.

Previously, hits to the head were permitted only when children were on their feet.

Kids are at risk of concussions and other injuries if punching to the face is allowed once they are down, said Chris Franco, owner of Vancouver’s Franco Kickboxing-Pankration gym.

“There was one child who is 95 pounds competing against another child who was 150 pounds,” Franco said. “They were both 12 years old, but I stopped the match because I thought the [smaller] boy might be snapped in half.

“One of my students, who is a seven-year-old girl, had a bigger boy on her in what is called a mount position. The referee wasn’t stopping it and the boy just kept hitting her in the head.”

Franco, who has coached martial arts for more than 20 years, said he stopped the fight before the girl was hurt because he believed there was potential for severe injury.

“She was very feisty and competitive, but the boy was on top throwing hooks, which caused me concern. Her mother was watching, and looked concerned,” Franco said.

However, Don Whitefield, who organized the new MMA division and is an MMA coach, said in an e-mail that the new rules were “better and safer.”

“In the past during this tournament ... there always was lots of blood on the mat and it was not safe,” Whitefield wrote. “The only problem I can think of was that some poor-fitting head gear [could slip] and impair the vision when clinching and grappling, since some parents hope their kids ... grow into the gear rather than buying properly fit gear.”

Whitefield was out of town, and could not be reached for further comment.

But Joe Ferraro, host of MMA Connected on Rogers Sportsnet, said only professional adult MMA fighters should use the “ground and pound” technique.

“I personally don’t condone children grounding and pounding each other in tournaments,” Ferraro told The Vancouver Sun. “That’s something that has to be taught and learned, and your body has to get conditioned to that. You don’t throw somebody learning how to play hockey straight into a bodychecking system. They have to learn how to skate first.”

B.C.’s representative for children and youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, said she is very concerned about head injuries, brain injuries and concussions when kids practise combat sports.

“Children are not invincible. They’re young and have a sense of immortality, and parents and caregivers need to be very careful about what they are consenting to with their children,” Turpel-Lafond said.

“With respect to competitions where there are activities like the grounding and pounding of children, I think the authorities should be investigating. I think that police and child welfare authorities should be looking carefully into the safety of kids practising mixed martial arts.

“This needs to be regulated and looked at carefully. This is an area that needs some scrutiny.”

Parents sign waivers on behalf of their children to enter tournaments. For the Western Canadian Martial Arts Championship tournament, the waiver says, “I hereby assume full responsibility for any and all damages, injuries or losses that I may incur while attending or participating in the Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships. I hereby waive all claims against the promoters or sponsors of said tournament individually or otherwise, for any damages, injuries or losses that I may sustain or incur.”

Jason Gagnon, who was a referee at the tournament and who is an instructor with Whitefield at West Coast Jiu-Jitsu, said allowing strikes to the temple and forehead, which are protected by the kind of headgear often used in amateur boxing, would limit the potential damage to competitors.

“The most important thing to us as coaches is that the kids are safe,” Gagnon said. “We are very aware that these are not professional athletes, and want to make sure we can run the most successfully safe and fun tournaments for the participants.”

Opponents point out, however, that while headgear offers protection in a standing fight, it’s impossible for a competitor to “duck and weave” when being held on the ground, which increases the potential for damage.

Other than one hyper-extended arm, there were no injuries at the recent tournament, Gagnon said.

“We didn’t have to send any kids down to first aid to be checked for concussion, there were no bleeding noses or black eyes, nothing like that,” Gagnon said. “Usually there are a lot more injuries.”

Paul Lazenby, senior instructor at Franco Kickboxing-Pankration, a Vancouver MMA school, and a former Canadian kickboxing champion, is a founding member of MMA B.C., which oversees some amateur events to make sure the athletes are safe.

Last weekend’s tournament was not sanctioned by MMA B.C. Events and schools are overseen only if they opt into the association, Lazenby said.

“We would love to oversee this tournament to prevent this from happening again, but we have to be asked,” Lazenby said. “It’s unconscionable that those rules would be allowed in a tournament like that. It’s just providing more ammunition to the people who are already trying to ban MMA in this city.”

Ferraro said MMA is a hugely popular and growing sport for kids.

“It’s extremely popular with children. It’s the new age karate, it’s the new age taekwondo. People want to learn how to defend themselves,” Ferraro said. “The health benefits and the honour system in martial arts is amazing for kids.”

Lazenby said MMA classes for kids are extremely popular throughout the Lower Mainland.

He named 15 gyms and said, “I’m sure I’m leaving a few out, and most if not all of these schools offer children’s programs.”

Lazenby said official government sanction or oversight would be beneficial for MMA and its practitioners.

“We’re forced into this position of kind of being a fringe sport, but we don’t want to be,” Lazenby said. “The sport is so popular that we’re not going anywhere.”

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

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